Posted on 05/03/2007 9:57:43 AM PDT by K-oneTexas
Territorial Imperatives: Compromising National Security by Geoff Metcalf
Date: May 1, 2007
Whenever politicians use foreign policy for political purposes, they succeed only in undermining the policy and creating more victims, argues FSM Contributing Editor Geoff Metcalf as he incisively illustrates the subterfuge and sabotage underlying liberals’ anti-Bush machinations.
“The greatest friend of Truth is time, her greatest enemy is Prejudice, and her constant companion Humility.”
--Charles Caleb Colton
When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Damascus, folding her wicked-witch-of-the-west mantle, she presumed to poach onto the foreign policy venue, which is very clearly not hers.
Ignoring the administration’s policy of isolating Syria, Nancy presumed to know better and sought out the ophthalmologist-turned-dictator Bashar al-Assad “in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace.” Notwithstanding overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Pelosi has proven not to be one who will allow facts contradicting her preconceived opinions and prejudices to get in the way of a cool photo opportunity.
Pelosi willfully and gleefully flipped off the administration’s and her own party’s sound council against stroking Assad. So what did she get for her efforts beyond the frequent flyer miles and pictures? What has happened with Syria since Pelosi’s “friendship and hope”? Nothing good.
Syrian judges recently sentenced a Mr. al-Bunni to five years in prison for having spoken out about torture and persecution of Assad opponents and for having founded the Syrian Human Rights Association. Al-Bunni compounded his “crimes,” when he signed the “Damascus Declaration,” which is a potentially suicidal pro-democracy manifesto.
Like the signers of our Declaration of Independence, al-Bunni signed the “Damascus Declaration” with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” His mistake (albeit founded on honor and principle) was that he did what he did in Syria.
In The Price They Paid, Gary Hildreth asks “Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army, and another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.”
Al-Bunni’s fate is yet to be determined beyond his scheduled five years in a Syrian slammer.
Despite Pelosi’s poaching, Assad made it crystal clear nothing will change if he has his way in Syria. To underscore his resolve, the recent bogus parliamentary vote that was staged allowed no independent candidates.
By all empirical measure, Mrs. Pelosi’s Syrian prank was a total failure. Bertrand Russell once said, “If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his in instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence.”
Reviewing key items on Pelosi’s Syrian wish list, we see not only that has she failed, but that her self-serving antics have created a catalyst for escalation:
The big problem with offering "friendship" and "hope" to a dictator like Assad is that it will (and has) inevitably be interpreted as acceptance by the United States of the policies of dictatorship. Again, this is the Neville Chamberlain finesse. The defeatist Democrats’ touting of their “give up in Iraq” policy is a transparently sycophantic screed, which ignores the potentially catastrophic consequences of their partisan pabulum.
Kane O’Hara once observed, “When the judgment’s weak, the prejudice is strong.” This observation is accurate and non-partisan. Both liberal Democrats and “stay the course” Republicans are clinging to their established partisan dogma in spite of facts that contradict their preconceived opinions and prejudices. Both partisan factions flat out refuse to accept any and all facts contrary to the gospel according to them.
Edward R. Morrow once said, “Everyone is a prisoner of their own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices -- just recognize them.”
The problem for our elected leaders is their abject refusal to recognize and/or mitigate their prejudices. It seems whenever politicians (of any stripe) use foreign policy for political purposes they succeed only in undermining the policy and creating more victims.
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FamilySecurityMatters.org Geoff Metcalf is an author and former nationally syndicated and major market radio talk show host. His background covers a wide spectrum of radio, television, magazine, and newspapers. A former Green Beret and retired Army officer, he is the author of ‘The Terrorist Killers’ (a novel) and ‘In The Arena’ (a collection of interviews). Visit Geoff’s Web Site: www.geoffmetcalf.com. E-mail: geoff@geoffmetcalf.com
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Used to listen to ol’ Geoff on KSFO in ‘Frisco.
He was identifying bin Laden as a threat LONG before 9/11.
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